OCR Text

Lethbridge Herald, The (Newspaper) - November 10, 1973, Lethbridge, Alberta
LfTHVMDQC HMALO-I A collection of brief book reviews Mienik by Charles McCvry Review 271 distributed by An unusually but highly novel for readers partial to spy stories other than those of James Bond ilk. More closely alligned to works such as The Spy Who Came In From The this story of irony and tension demonstrates unforgettably the tragedy and sheer lunacy of international espionage. Constructed in the form of a with agents' headquarters' com- intercepted transcriptions of bugged The Miemik Dossier draws the reader into the inner workings of intelligence gathering and to the question central to At what point does an agent's search for truth from among bits and pieces of information yield to his psychological need for The answers to this ques- if not completely are chilling. they're found in The Miemik Dossier. enthralling and distinctly refreshing reading. HERB LEGG The Ancient Chinese Art of Healing and How it Works by Felix Mann House 232 Dr. Mann should have a pop- ular seller in because of the tremendous in- terest shown in the ancient medical art this year by laymen and medical per- sonnel. Canadian doctors have witnessed the effectiveness of but claim they are not sure why it is effective or how it works. Dr. of feels he knows how acupuncture works and that it can be ex- plained from a scientific point of view. He bases his explanation on years of experience with acupuncture and a study of traditional Chinese medical practices. He attempts to simplify his explanation through the use of diagrams and detailed ex- planations of acupuncture but his subject is much too complex for easy reading and interpretation. An excellent and interesting work for medical personnel. JIM GRANT Perrone's Needlepoint dom House of Canada 48 If you wish to assemble your own needlepoint kit at a frac- tion of the cost of a commer- cial you will find this book invaluable. Whether you're a beginner and want to use the suggested or an expert and like the fun of choosing your you'll find lots of scope here. Made of high quality stiff the book carries forty designs including a colored il- lustration of each completed piece. The step-by-step in- structions for beginning and finishing a piece of work are easily followed. Included also is a section on materials required with precise and how to handle the yarn and make the stitches. Along with patterns for pic- tures and pillows are those for bell glass and head bands. You can choose a design to sujl the traditional or the most modern home in this highly recommendable book. ELSIE MORRIS Dangerous by R. M. Patterson. Publishing 272 To quote R. M. Patterson's forward book is the story of the Nahanni country in the Northwest Territories of Canada and is an attempt to find the lost gold of that little- known region. The attempt failed writing style is and providing sheer enjoyment for the reader. While talking of a par- ticular set of he an amazing though by no designed to make the voyageur burst into a hymn of thanksgiving and show- ing the frustrations of the wilds he relates he let rip with a highly-colored oration which would most certainly have gained no advancement in the ministry Albert the now deceased man of the Nahanni region who was featured by the CBC in a special some years plays an impor- tant role in any saga of the Nahanni and Patterson makes full use of his old friend. Faille his camps or his pop up continuous- ly throughout the book. With a smidgen of history thrown you come to know Patterson's Nahanni with its abundant its Chinook winds and its eerie legends. A book with deeper feeling toward this area would be hard to imagine. GARRY ALLISON Window on the with text by Ernest photographs by Hans Weber and Stewart 128 This book is not likely to be chosen by Nova Scotian tourist officials to lure visitors to their province. The text is pure poetry but the pic- tures are often stark and dreary. They deal with rugged rough run- down lonely hard-working weary people. The scenes may be accurate but they surely do not portray the whole of the maritime province. One would wish that the authors could have included a bit more sense of joy and vibrancy and a little less of loneliness. Buckler was born and raised in Nova educated at Dalhousie University and the University of Toronto. Since 1936 he has lived on a farm near Nova Scotia where he combines his writing career with farming. Weber was born in Germany in 1948 and since coming to Canada in 1955 has become well-known as an able photographer. Perhaps the two men will again combine their talents to produce a more cheerful view of a lovely land. ELSPETH WALKER Magazine's En- cyclopedia of edited by Robert Scharff and the Editors of GOLF 424 distributed by Fitzbenry The problem of what to get father for Christmas is solved with awareness of the availability of this book of that father is a golfer. Everything that anyone might conceivably want to know about golf can be found in this history of the results of major com- who's who in the fundamen- championship courses. The explanations of how to play the game are set forth clearly and should be a boon to the duffer and might even be helpful to those more advanced. Other sections will have varying degrees of interest but any golfer would appreciate owning the book. DOUG WALKER of My by Richard and Company Prior to reading this novel of modern one should become acquainted with the cultural 'and historical background of the country. After plunging through three chapters of Llewellyn this powerful story becomes alive and a na- tion standing on a ladder reaching out for and in a setting of Middle East intrigue and conflict. Israel's pursuit of identity against hostile desert lands is embodied in deep symbolism an searching young man with a desire to do more and a beautiful woman representing the heart and soul of a proud and blossoming land. and passion are the dynamic forces which envelop the lives of people as they struggle to unite amid collec- armies and industrialization. One would certainly better comprehend the plight of the Israeli people in the Middle East today by reading this novel. Shalom. LOLA MAJOR Revenge of Anle by Alan DwMe- day 184 Gyp Sandhouse enjoyed his isolated ranch in British Columbia. His friendship with the local Indian chief and his beautiful daughter added to his happiness. Gyp's contentment It dis- turbed when he becomes in- volved in a local murder mystery and the Mountie gets very hostile towards Gyp and his well meaning manoeuvres. The climax is hilarious and offers a most original solution to official bureaucracy. Author Alan' Fry also deals very sensitively with white Indian relations and the unfair ways in which white society tries to improve the Indian culture. This is an excellent Cana- dian novel. Read it soon. TERRY MORRIS Saikei and Japanese Dwarf Trees and Tree by Robert Lee Behme J. McCloed 2M the training and dwarfing of trees in pots or containers if a very old art. It originated in CUM in the eleventh century and came to Japan in the mid-llOOs where it is now a national art. Offering a delightful contrast to full-scale gar- Bonsai is hardly a one- season effort. It needs a lot of green thumb spectU techni- ques and not to forget some artistic feeling as well. The book completely covers every aspect and is beautifully illustrated with 200 photographs explaining every style and technique. TOM LAST by Robert H. Williams. and Whlteside If. ZM Looking for a report on police unenforceable com- munity You won't find any of these in this despite the come- on splashed across its front cover. Novelist Williams attempts to construct a case what he non crimes such as liquor narcotics and por- nography. He finds not in nar- but in frightening ties between the cop on the take and the forces of organiz- ed William picks scattered ex- amples of this from cities such as Seattle and Miami. His philosophy and anti police like his just don't add up. HERB LEGG Lest We Forget Photo by Elwood Ferguson Book Reviews Monumental history study Study of a new edition revised and by Arnold Toynbee and Jane Caplan University Press in association with Thames and 11V x 576 Among the major intellec- tual achievements of the 20th century is Arnold Toynbee's monumental Study of History. For 52 as Dr. Toynbee explains in the foreword to this work has been under way on the Study. Six of the 12 that con- stitute the unabridged were published prior to the Se- cond World the remainder between 1954 and 1961. D. G. Soiflervell produced a two-volume abridgement of the Study some years ago which reproduced the struc- ture of volumes 1-10 and in what Dr. Tovnbee says will be the final a new edition is offered to the public. In this edition there are some significant differences to be found from the Somervell abridgement. The text of the present volume is con- siderably employs different and incor- porates material from the supplementary volune which had not been published when the Somervell abridge- ment was made. The most striking difference is the presence of 507 illustrations in with captions and explanatory notes. These are quite remarkable in the way they il- luminate the Study. The two women who chose this Miss Jane Caplan and Mrs. obviously had mastered the plan and contents of the whole Study. In case there are still some people who do not know that 'A Study of History is not the customary chronological I will simply note that it is an attempt to find an explanation for the rise and decline of civilizations which Dr. Toynbee counts besides a few more that were Although the average reader might not be able to grasp or assess the whole argument he can cer- tainly appreciate the in- dividual segments and be stimulated by the lessons pointed out. This book would be an out- standing gift for any serious reader or lover of art. It is a production of beauty as well as of substance and worth what might seem at first glance at the listing to be a steep price. DOUG WALKER Energy resources limited Arctic by Richard Rohmer acd Stewart 224 This book is written with a sense of urgency and a concern for the future and will be of prime interest to Canadians aware of the need for further gas and oil supplies. The book alerts Canadians to a problem that may assume national emergency proportions in the not-too-distant future. Massive deposits of gas and oil. discovered in the Cana- dian North mainly by U.S. oil await removal to southern markets but whatever method of transpor- tation is decided on it must preserve the delicate honor the rights of native and ensure maximum economic benefits for Canada. This electrifying book will familiarize Canadians with the Arctic push for immediate research programs and the. formation of a firm national policy. Richard Rohmer believes Canada must take the initiative now or surrender control to American cor- porations. The writer has actively committed himself to the concerns of the Arctic. Originator of the Mid-Canada Development Corridor he-was the recipient of the Commissioner's Award for Public Service to the Northwest Territories for 1972. these resources are limited in their and because mankind can now comprehend the fact of a ter- minal decade within which natural gas and crude oil the commodities basic to contemporary civilization' will the human race is gradually beginning to realize that it is coming face to face with a choice. This choice will not be made in an instant but over the span of two decades or even The choice will- be between to even ration the non-renewable energy or create totally new sources of energy. Even more difficult is the decision to take-control of the population especially in the high-consumption nations of the among which the United States has the highest rank of. the writer points out. Richard brings the reader face to face with the awful truth that American decision-makers have failed to plan ahead in order to ensure that their fossil fuel energy re- quirements would be met and claims that country is just entering the foothills of a mountainous range of energy shortages. The book is very in- formative and invaluable to those interested in energy for tomorrow. CHRIS STEWART THE VOICE OF ONE Dr. Frank S. Morley The missionaries invade Africa Was the vast missionary crusade in Africa in the 19th century good or The answer by Geoffrey Moorhouse in B. Uppincott is going to stir some mighty argument as he answers it was both mixed with frightful evil and much good. Moorhouse attempts a realistic assessment of the missionaries which does not spare even the revered David Livingstone or his Robert Mof- fat. Of the Bechuana chiefs Livingstone said they were born idiots or little good at nothing but Yet Moorhouse does observe that they worshipped Robert after five years in South Africa wrote in his no enquiry after God. In- difference and stupidity form the wreath on every ignorance the grossest ig- norance forms the basis of every heart. We we we but without the least apparent Dr. Robert Cust was sent out to investigate conditions and he reported the length and breadth of British India during a quarter of a century I never heard a breath of scandal against any Protestant or of the Church of but in Africa my experiences are sadly Far more devastating had been the shock- ing disclosures by Andrew a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in his visit to a mission established on Lake Nyasa by the Church of Scotland. The ghastly floggings of native men and women and other inhuman punishments would be made public by the Duke of Somerset in The House of Lords. It is incredible that there was not a greater outcry in the church and punish- ment of those guilty of such outrage. The blackest moment of Christian missions with the Battle of Mengo in Uganda in when Protestants and Roman Catholics clashed in deadly a fright- ful result of a crisis which had been mounting steadily in the enmity between the French White Fathers and the English Church Missionary Society. The account of the the deaths of thousands of and children by drowning in the and the emigration of tens of thousands of all make the most heart-rending reading. What fearful crimes have been com- mitted in the name of It is small consolation that the atrocities of Uganda rulers make any missionary sins pale by com- parison. After as a native woman told the missionaries at is not what you A White Father in Uganda the trouble with most so-called Christians in Europe is that they don't realize that the so-called pagans in Africa have a lot to teach Moorhouse for the se- cond of the great Christian the joy of the Gospel expressed in the abandon of song which Christians have too long lost. The bad side of missions is undoubtedly far outweighed by the good. Miss Mary daughter of Charles criticizes mis- sions and missionaries quite but she is full of admiration for Mary Slessor and concludes that as a the mis- sionaries must be regarded as superbly noble-minded men who go and risk their own and often those of their wives and and definitely sacrifice their personal comfort and safety to do from their point of is their simple Moorhouse concludes his remarkable study of African missions with the emphatic state- ment that without missions it would have been impossible to bring Africa into independence and the 20th century. The mis- sionaries taught the Africans to stand up in the councils of the world as independent men and women. The missionaries were the sole source of African education. The leaders of African independence were without excep- tion men who had been trained in mission schools. Moorhouse points out that Hastings Banda was reared by the Livingstone mis- sionaries. Kenneth Kaunda's father was a Protestant minister and came .up under the guidance of Church of Sctoland missionaries as did Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya. Julius Nyere taught at a Catholic mission and is a good Catholic. Joseph Kasavubu of the Congo was taught in a Catholic school and Moise Tshombe by American Methodists. Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigeria had his education in an Anglican and Tubman of Liberia from the Methodists. It is the same through almost the entire roll call. is an invaluable study for all students who would understand but especially for a study of missions It will cause many heated but it may lead to a far greater understanding of men like Livingstone who will always emerge as a hero secure on his pedestal. SATURDAY TALK By Norman Smith Giving must be reborn Escott Reid has written a book under the prosaic the World But far from prosaic the book is a fact-loaded attack on the rich countries of the world by on the blindness or worse of those who live in them. This lean son of the rectory has always girded his loins for the underprivileged through Oxford the early depu- ty head of External High Com- missioner to Ambassador to then as director of the South-Asian and Middle-Eastern department of the World Bank. But what used to be genuine righteous in- d.L'iu'tion is now a cold if that is possi- jnd so spelled. It is clear to him that we either do not believe or do not care that despite Samaritan words'we are increasing the gap between rich countries and poor countries. He is as concerned about the shame of the thing as for the political-social dangers it threatens to the peace of the world. This tragedy is not newly-exposed. I myself on return from the East in 1950 wrote and spoke of Canada's share to world aid being the financial equivalent of one ice cream cone per year per person of which our politicians spoke with But Escott with the heart to the training to unders- tand and the access to all of the world's true facts and has given us the story with stark force. Maurice Strong puts it awesomely. ing on projections of population and of gross national Reid found that in the year 2000 it is likely that the rich countries of the world will have an average income per. person of between and the purchasing power of the 1970 com- pared with in 1970. A very poor country such as in the middle ranks of very poor will have an average income of to compared with in 1970. On the most optimistic assumptions about In- dia's the gap between average in- come in India and that in the rich countries will have increased in terms of 1970 dollars from in 1970 to about in the year Escott Reid's own sentence on this aspect is total population at the end of the century of the countries which are now very poor is likely to be about almost three-fifths of the population of the Their present population is million. Let me concentrate on just one phase of Reid's statistics. The World Bank figures indicate 25 per cent of the people of the world live in rich 8.4 in middle Income 14.0 in poor and 516 in very poor countries. Seven out of ten of the people of the develop- ing countries live in the very poor with a per capita income of not more than Nine-tenths of the people of the very poor countries live in one region of the the mainland of Asia south of the Soviet Union and east of Iran plus neighboring In- donesia. This recion is an almoit mass of poverty. On a world scale of poverty there is virtually no deep poverty in the Europe or Oceania. Six countries alone contain 90 per cent of the peo- ple of the very poor Pakistan and Nigeria. Reid shows in various ways the close relationship between heat and poverty. Rabindranath Tagore said of live under the tyranny of the paying heavy toll every moment for the barest right to existence. The the the un- speakable fecundity of minute life feeding upon big the perpetual sources of visible and leave little margin of capital for extravagant ex- More than six out of seven of the people who live in rich countries live in white countries in the northern hemisphere. The 700 million rich whites who live in rich white northern hemisphere countries make up less than one-fifth of the population of the world. In the sixties the very poor member countries of the World Bank had a rate of growth in GNP of only 3.7 per cent a while the better-off developing countries middle income and had a rate of growth of 6.2 per cent. If these rates continue it will take the very poor twenty years to double their gross national whereas the better-off will double theirs in twelve. The portions of Reid's book devoted to how to arrest this tragic trend are but difficult for a lay reader like me to take in. To they combine such things as that the rich world must become kinder and that it must comprehend the art of giv- ing so that giving can be not only useful but acceptable without injuring pride or that there is no room for small minds or small politics in global planning nor in peace that it is not only later than we think but getting later than that at an accelerating rate. Almost all of Reid's criticisms have been directed to world institutions like the The Development Association and various national aid organizations. They have he too pre- occupied with Western and rich thought behavior and perhaps too prejudic- ed against race or color or politics. All that may be so. But it seems to me that the statesmen and leaders of the w- wealthy world have not been provocative or courageous enough in telling all of us the magnitude of the task ahead. It seems to me all or certainly have been too receptive to the pleas of their campaign organizers that money sent to Asia gets no votes in the front or back constituencies. Escott Reid refrains from making a sermon out of his he has suoolied the facts and the politicians should go on from there. But will Or will as make them go on from there I'd not bet on it. May his impatience increase and his seething get hotter. the WerM by Escott ReM. by The Adlai SMVCMM In-
;